Elizabeth (Beth) Baynes

Instructor, School of Nursing

Beth Baynes joined the School of Nursing faculty at the University of Portland in January 2014 as an adjunct clinical instructor following her retirement after 42 years of nursing. She graduated from OHSU in 1972 with her B.S.N. and immediately began a 17-year career at Doernbecher Children’s Hospital. Her interest in nursing was realized through her own childhood experiences when she was hospitalized many times because of polio, which she experienced just before the vaccine became available in her Indiana home town. From Doernbecher she moved to the public school system in Multnomah County, working as a school nurse and school nurse administrator for 25 years. During this time, she earned her M.S.N. at UP and fell in love with the campus, the people, and nursing education. As an adjunct nursing instructor, she taught in population health clinical settings. She loved developing partnerships and relationships in the community as well as having the opportunity to take the journey with incredibly bright and strong nursing students to develop their understanding of population health. This experience was so exciting, fulfilling, and loved, that she ended her first retirement to join the faculty as a full-time instructor. She is on track to achieve her goal of fifty years of nursing. When she isn’t teaching or spending time with her family, she loves to travel, sew, and read.